I’m Christoforos, an expat Greek in his late twenties who tries to make the most out of his nomadic life. With background in media and communications, I experience the daily struggle to find accurate information and stay open to new theories that might convince me to re-consider.
Why are EU commentators making such efforts to persuade its readers or viewers how surprised they woke up on Monday after the EP 2014 elections? For quite a long time, we have all been warned of the profound malaise in European societies made visible by the successive massive workers’ demonstrations and the graffiti’s of despair in public zones.
In Greece, the turnover of MEPs is 100%, meaning that all newly elected will travel to Strasbourg in July for the first time in their lives.
Equally disturbing I found the attempts in reports to put non-mainstream parties that campaigned for an alternative model and are newcomers on the European political scene in the same category under the label of ‘populism’. First, anti-establishment rhetoric is not identical with an anti-European attitude; second, it is odd to see anti-immigration outfits like Golden Dawn mentioned in the same line as Syriza.
The negligible turnout increase barely saved the face of the EP’s relevant directorate general for running the Act, React, Impact campaign which more or less embarrassed the presidential tours of all major European political groups.
As Council leaders met in Brussels to agree on a commonly accepted head of the European Commission, Angela Merkel of Germany spoke out aloud that all names are on the table making it clear that the presidential candidate of the EP’s political group with the largest share will not be automatically offered the top position. What was the main argument for convincing voters to exercise their right again?